Garrison

Garrison is loosely based on a series of murders committed at Fort Bragg, by returned US soldiers from Iraq in 2002. Veteran Sgt. Daniel McManus (Kerry Valderrama) is ordered to track down a missing comrade in arms, eventually coming into conflict with a deeply damaged man whose life McManus once saved. This surprisingly impressive low budgeter is a commentary on the forgotten soldiers of modern warfare who have been abandoned by their government, as well as a look at the juggling of a family life and a military career - which, in this case, does not end well.

First-time director/writer/star Kerry Valderrama (obviously creating opportunities for himself after starring in largely B-grade fare like Doctor S Battles The Sex Crazed Zombies!) delivers a solid piece of film-making, with interesting plot twists and convincing performances. He does, however, dip a few too many times into the big and truly dog-eared book of US military clichés - complete with brutally aggressive staff sergeants and suffering recruits. Apart from this, the plot is filled with enough suspense, mystery and evenly placed social commentary to keep audiences enthralled.

Didn't anyone else notice that exactly 50% of the flags displayed on the uniforms were not PROPER????? Besides the fact that no unit insignias were displayed, flags were attached to "BOTH" shoulders. The flag is to be displayed to show the flag as moving forward as the soldier is walking forward. The left shoulder patch is in direct defiance of flag etiquette.

I have seen movies before on this type on budget and Garrison most certainly exceeds its expectations.

If you are expecting some huge military film then I would not recommend this movie for you. There are hardly any type of battle scenes and the ones that are shown are very small in scale. There are some interesting scenes throughout the film that do come as a pleasant surprise.

I would still recommend this movie since the acting and overall story line keeps you watching until the end.

I gave it an 8 because it was apparent that this film was made with no money, and any film on the military and PTSD has my vote.

So why can't they get the simplest things correct in this movie, for instance the unit insignias on the shoulders which no one is wearing, and no combat insignias either, cause everyone is wearing cib with wreath, so you know they have been in combat. And the fact in some scenes you see some of the actors not not wearing there covers or hats, probably for the fact so you can see there face better, wearing a mp3 during a company run, I mean please, such inaccuracies are just horrible and disrespectful, so it was a low budget film, but these are just simple things that so easy to get right but yet like so many other films they screw them up totally and portray the military as idiots.

Potential viewers who are considering watching this movie be aware - although the packaging suggests that this movie is full of action, it isn't. In fact, there really isn't much in the movie that could be considered action. Instead, it's a pretty serious drama concerning the going-ons at the title place. Nothing in theory wrong with that, but the execution is totally botched. The main problem with the movie is how unbelievably slow and boring it is. There's no feeling of building tension or any kind of spark that would keep a viewer interested. You'll be sorely tempted to hit the fast-forward button on your remote. To make matters worse, the movie looks extremely cheap and tacky, with horrible cinematography and next to non-existent production values. And who on earth though that strident musical score was appropriate for what aimed to be a serious drama? The filmmakers should be locked up in the brig.